Gone
by Believe24
Summary: Starling hasn't seen the hood in nearly a year. Oliver Queen, with a new baby in his lap decides to put on his hood again. How did this all happen? In the last year, the city has gone to hell. For the sake of his family, Oliver tries to save it yet again. (Future fic/ olicity) (flashback pregnancy trope)
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own arrow or its characters**

**This story takes place a few years after season two finale. **

Since the arrow disappeared nearly a year ago Starling city had gone to hell. People didn't believe that crime rates could get any higher after the steel works closed down but writhing a year it nearly doubled. Criminals had gotten cocky since the arrow supposedly died in the 2016 gang riots. He hadn't been seen since. The law enforcement community who had hunted the vigilante for years was now begging for his return. Families who had feared him now prayed for him. But their prayers remained unanswered as the year continued with still no sign of him.

No one knew where the arrow had gone. He seemed unstoppable in the year prior to his disappearance, he had apprehended nearly all of the members of the triad, had kept crime rates down, and was even supported by the major. He had fought feared powers such as the dark archer who was arguably the best archer in the world seemingly without a problem. Then suddenly in a large gang riot in the area of the city previously known as the glades he fought gang bangers with small hand weapons and was never seen again. After that crime went right back up causing major casualties in another riot two weeks later. He didn't make an appearance and the city realized he may have died. An icon for their city had been brought down by blue collar criminals probably by a lucky shot. It was unbelievable but the only explanation they had. The archer was dead.

* * *

Oliver Queen sat in the parlor of the Queen estate on a late evening. Thunder rumbling in the distance and rain dropping on the Windows. He had his arms full, one wrapped around Felicity and the other holding his new born son Connor. He had the strangest feeling of pride in his stomach looking down at a bunched up piece of flesh and bone in his lap. This was all an accident but he had no regrets. Connor was resting in his lap and Felicity was in his arm; he felt like there was nothing needed to be said. With all the chaos going about his city it was nice to have one perfect moment no matter how short it was, and this felt perfect. He felt like he had a family again for the first time in years. Since Thea moved out and his mother was killed, this was the first time the house felt filled even if it wasn't a real family.

As with any perfect moment it didn't last long. A knock at the door ended the silence and required Oliver to get up from the couch and answer it. He shifted and stood laying Connor in Felicity's arms and walked over to the door. Diggle walked in from behind the chestnut doors soaked from the pouring rain. This was the first time Oliver had seen him in over three months. He didn't know where he has been or what he had been doing but he was glad to see him non the less, even if he had neglected his driving duties which were unnecessary anyway.

"I heard your message man. Congratulations." Dig said grasping Ollies hand and walking inside the warm house.

"Where have you been?" Oliver asked with his regular boyish charm. Dig lost his smile.

"Fighting crime. Something you ought to be doing. The city needs you. It's needed you for a long time." Dig said setting down his coat refusing to look Oliver in the eye.

He thought Oliver was being selfish. Eleven months before he had fought gang bangers in the glades and suddenly hung up his hood. He said there was nothing more he could do for his city, it was too far gone. And after that the city became worse than ever in its history. Oliver watched the chaos peruse every day, every time he stepped out of his house and did nothing. He said the hood was dead and if he brought him back to life Oliver would be the one that died.

"I can't. Not now." Oliver told him as he hung up the coat. Diggle walked into the parlor seeing the back of Felicitys head. He sat on the couch next to her and touched the tiny child on her lap.

"I remember when Holly was this small." Dig said talking about his and Leila's daughter. "I'd do anything for her, even if it meant going out every day and defending our city from dangerous crooks." He said directing it to Oliver.

"I've tried. You know I have. But his thick skull just won't hear it." Felicity whispered to him. She had been trying to convince him to hood up for months but he continued to refuse the idea. Something was holding him back from putting on the hood again and he refused to tell anyone. Neither his sister, partner, nor woman he loved. It enraged them but he was set in his ways as he always was.

"Look man they need you, the city needs you. Don't you want to make it a better place for your son to live in?" Dig asked changing his tone.

"That's why we have law enforcement. Like detective lance."

"But they can't do the things we do. If you were still out there you could be doing things twice as well as they do it. May be if you were out there you could show them there's hope. Maybe if you were out there Sin would still be alive."

"No Dig. No more hood. No more bloodshed." He yelled. The Oliver Queen he was when he first came home from the island five years ago suddenly surfaced. He was angry, his fists were tightened. He took some deep breath and went up the stairs.

Felicity and dig stared at each other. They hadn't been able to get an answer out of him in eleven months. Something had changed Oliver during that fight, it must have. He refused to put on the hood after that. It had nothing to do with family he wasn't seeing felicity at that time and his sister was out of town. It wasn't fear for his own life, he had dozens of threats already. But there was something going on with him something so big that he had to give up his hood.

* * *

_It was April of 2016. The city was an interesting place. Crime rates were down but that didn't mean that criminals weren't still underfoot. The vigilante was catching more suspects than the police force. Oliver had suited up to fight off some of the rioters the police weren't able to take down. He drove them into an alley between two apartment complexes. He had just knocked down twelve of the fifteen remaining rioters and was still as fresh as he was when he stared. One came at him from behind puncturing the skin of his back but he grabbed the man and flipped him over on his back and stepped on his weapon crushing it. Then he stepped on his ribs crushing two. Another man took out his weapon aiming for the hoods face, but he reacted and shot the gun out of his hand, then knocked him against the wall while preparing to fight the third and final rioter. But this one was different. He seemed swifter and preferred to use his hands rather than his weapons. Finally a worthy opponent. _

_The man in a ski mask, much skinnier and more agile than the rest grabbed the railing of the fire escape and lifted himself above the arrow. He climbed after him but by the time he got up there the gang member had grabbed him and pulled him back down to the concrete ground. Oliver hit the ground hard half convinced he heard church bells in the distance. The man picked him up from the ground and kicked him in the ribs. Oliver cringed but hit him back flipping him over to the ground an arrow in his hand. He moved back just a slight inch and felt the man's hand holding a knife to his back. This was a move he had seen before, a counter defence he had been taught long ago. Oliver was in shock nearly dropping his arrow. The man did nothing, did not move barely breathed. Oliver grabbed the collar of the rioter and stopped calling the person a man in his head; for this man was not a man at all, he was a woman. _

_He brought her to her feet not letting go of his arrow or her clothing. She still didn't move but finally relaxed her joints. Oliver let go of her collar but still held his arrow. He took his hand and went up her neck grabbing the bottom of her ski mask. She allowed him to pull it up her face and let down her long black hair. She opened her eyes looking straight up at him. He took a step back dropping her mask in a dirty puddle of the alley. He didn't know what to do, he was completely shocked._

_"Hello Ollie." She said. __He quickly took off his hood and his mask to get a better look at her not caring if she knew who he was or not. "I like your beard." She told him. Oliver had grown a goatee and small beard for the last year. She hadn't seen him like that before. She hadn't see him in nine years since the island. It was Shado. _

_"But You're dead!" He said not being able to say anything else. _

_"I know." She answered simply touching his face._

_They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Shado had a smile on her face as she examined Oliver. He had gotten old since she last saw him even though he wasn't a day over 35. Being the arrow had seemed to have taken a toll on him. But he still looked good beard and all. Oliver had an expression of utter confusion. He didn't know what to feel. She had died right in front of him, he had buried her on the island and had been the reason for her death. Was she even dead? She hadn't aged a day. She was still just as beautiful as he remembered her to be, her smooth hands, her silky hair, her sweet face. Everything just as he remembered. Finally she spoke again._

_"You have to stop. You have to stop this now Ollie." She told him._

_"What?" _

_"Take off my father's hood. End this. You have to. Or everyone you love is going to die. Everyone you are going to love, everyone you have ever known will know nothing but pain. And it will be all your fault. You have to stop, take off my father's hood." _

_"Is someone threatening me? Shado I can handle it. It isn't the first time someone has threatened me. And I'm a better fighter than you remember me to be." He said confidently but still a little dazed. Shado stepped away from him towards the fire escape. _

_"Not this time. You can't win against this person. Because if you don't stop being the arrow, it will be me who goes after your family. And you can't stop me." Suddenly she climbed onto the ladder and pulled her up three levels in a few seconds. _

_"But you're dead!" He yelled to her again. _

_"I know." She answered again and then then was gone like a shadow. _

_Oliver stood in the alley for hours after that trying to understand what had just happened. Shado was dead she had been dead for years. She couldn't have lived through what has happened to her. Not even if she was injected with the miracuru. She would have been long dead when anyone could have gotten To her to inject her. But now she was alive. What could he do besides obey, she was a better archer and fighter than he ever could be and seemingly a ghost. He felt like he had to obey for the sake of his son._

**_There will be more chapters coming soon. Sorry if I missed grammar issues, the spell check on my kindle sucks. I write all my stories on it. Please review and thank you for reading this so far._**


	2. Chapter 2

Oliver slammed the door behind him and sat in his old bed. He buried his head in shame, at times like those all he wanted to do was tell them what was going on. More than anything he wanted to help his city and punish those responsible for its downfall. If it were anyone, anyone besides Shado he would be out there at that moment. Most threats against his life and family were just threats and that's it, nothing ever came after. The more serious ones made by high profile criminals didn't worry him much either for they were no match to him. But Shado, Shado was a much different story. Not only had she trained him but she had always been superior to him, even in his current prime he knew that she was better. Her caliber of skills were better on the island and still better even after his further training; he never got to her level. He had seen her do amazing things with her bow, things he still dreamed of being able to do.

It wasn't only her skills that were holding him back though. It was her as a person. She was his guardian on the island, his teacher, his lover, and dear friend. When he enabled her death he was never the same and to that day he still hadn't forgiven himself. She asked him to give up his hood and he wanted to honor her wishes, he had killed her after all. He felt like he owed this to her. Whether he had seen her ghost or the real thing, he couldn't ignore her.

Oliver sat and continued thinking about her but a knock at the door broke his concentration. "What?" He asked angrily. Felicity poked her head in not saying a word but stared at him. He felt bad for yelling at her but didn't let her see that. "This is not a good time Felicity." He turned away. She walked in anyway and sat on his bed next to him.

She started talking quickly, "Look I don't know what's going on with you, but we're family now whether you can accept that or not. We're stuck with each other. And mind you I didn't have a good family really, I mean my dad wasn't really around much. Who knows what my brother Grant is doing right now I kinda lost touch with him but I could find him if I wanted. My mom was a bartender half her life and now she works in computer systems which is where you would think I got my computer skills but I didn't, not from-"

"Felicity! You're rambling again!" He yelled this time in an amusing way. Felicity closed her lips quickly realizing she was indeed rambling a great deal.

"Right sorry. I don't think I should finish here. Weird way to say that sorry again."

"It's alright." He told her laughing under his breath. He thought it was cute how she would forget she was talking. It was an innocent quality of hers not that she was innocent anymore. She had seen too many crime scenes and blood to be. "I understand. I don't really have much of a family either. Thea never comes around anymore, I have to see how she's doing through Roy."

"Roy's doing well. He's fighting crime just as you taught him. But mind you, he's just as mad at you as we are."

"Are you?" He asked surprising her with a kiss. Naturally she kissed back without hesitation.

"I am, we are. No amount of kisses with your weird beard will change that. Ugh. That rhymed dammit!" Oliver laughed at her remark and kissed her again.

"You are my family Felicity. You've been a part of it for a long time and now you always will be."

"Well for the sake of your family, fix whatever is wrong with you. Now. Right now." She stood up and left for downstairs leaving him alone again.

He was learning to love her more and more everyday. A relationship between the two of them had appeared out of no where and soon after their son did too but they both had no regrets. They were closer than before and it felt so natural. Oliver felt like he always wanted to protect Felicity before they got together and now he felt the same. He realized that the reason he was so protective of her for a those years was because he loved her. She was the last thing he thought about when he fell asleep and the first thing he saw when he woke up. She had made a big impact on him, she gave him his son. He didn't believe in religion but he felt like all of this was a gift.

Her words held strong in his mind. The fact that he loved her made him want to put on the hood, but it was for the same reason that he wouldn't. His life with her had only begun, he didn't want to put on the hood on, only to be killed by Shado. It wasn't a risk he was willing to take. If Shadow wasn't out there he would still have it on, he was confident in himself that he wouldn't kill himself swinging from ropes in the city. He loved being the arrow but he loved Shado too, now in a respectable way. But he thought he loved Felicity now more than her. He owed it to her to try.

* * *

Verdant was a shell of itself that night. Oliver had closed it for inventory for the evening. He stood on its roof in the iconic arrow uniform holding the hood in his hand. From there he could see every light on the horizon of starling city. It had been nearly a year since he was able to see such an amazing sight. Before, it seemed a little brighter, there were more buildings lit and less abandoned. In his absence it seemed the city had abandoned a lot of areas leaving them as dark as the sky.

He was hesitant to move. If he was correct and Shado was watching him she could kill him for putting the hood on again. He didn't want to die, but he didn't want to sit around all day again either. He wanted to make a difference which was why he was running for mayor but being in office only allowed him to do so much. Being under the hood allowed him to play by his own set of rules with only the limitations he set himself. It had been far too long. With that thought he finally put on his hood.

He felt the wind flying past him for the first time while he jumped from building to building looking down in alleys and stores. He made sure he wasn't see by anyone from above and didn't interfere with any minor crime. He didn't want to interfere with anything, just maybe get Shado's attention, that is, if she was really alive.

He scouted the streets just outside the glades for hours. There were no signs of any major problems or shado. He began to wonder loosely if everything he saw was just a dream. It was just a theory, he felt in his gut that it was truly real but there was still a sliver of doubt within him. He jumped to the next building looking in that alley which was like the others, empty. He prepared to go to the next one but turned first to see Shado watching him from the corner.

"I told you no." She said sweetly walking to him. Ollie was struck.

"You also told me you were dead." He said smitten.

"Ollie, I will kill you." She said more serious.

"You're dead!"

"I know!" The same argument started taking place. "I don't know what I'm doing her! I'm probably you're imagination or subconscious. Or an experiment or Ibo's. But ill tell you this I can and will kill you."

"Shado!" He yelled enraged with her. He ran at her, knocked her to the ground and pinned her down. "I don't care what the hell you are. I dreamed about you before and you went away."

And with that she jumped off the building but never touched the ground. She was gone before she could get there.

* * *

"Oliver it seems you were injected with a powerful hallucinogen approximately 12 months ago." Diggle told him.

Oliver had headed for the basement of the night club after his encounter. Dig had taken his blood and had found a certain hallucinating poison in Oliver's blood stream. It stayed dormant in his system and then react with certain external temperatures similar to those of when he was injected.

"Do you know when this could have happened? When did you first noticed the symptoms?" He asked injecting a possible cure.

"Yes. I was fighting three gang members. One came up behind me and nicked my back. That was when I first saw her. But I have to believe that there was something she said that was true. That if I go out there again I'm going to die." Oliver told him.

"Maybe it's you're subconscious. Didn't you say you saw Tommy and Shado once before?"

"Yeah. Thanks Dig. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going home." He put on his shirt and walked up the stairs. Diggle stayed behind.

Oliver rode home on his bike wanting to get home as soon as possible. It was nearly five a.m. and he wanted to be in bed before Felicity woke up. The view of the city from his bike was worse than it was on the roof tops. The streets were littered with forgotten people mixed in with forgotten trash. Sketchy people weren't limited to the glades anymore, they were in every corner of the downtown city they had spread like a disease, multiplying everyday with people who thought they could over take the city with weapons and wealth that they stole from the wealthy. The disease was festering throughout the city, a disease he had contained for four years, and then he was injected with a drug which convinced him to stop. It probably wasn't the reason why he was injected but it was an effect. He had waisted an entire year keeping a promise to a dead woman who wasn't there. He was ready to come back now and it looked like he had a lot of work to make up for.

But first he wanted to go home to his son and Felicity. He wanted to tell her what had been happening, finally, it felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He went inside and climbed into bed with Felicity who was sleeping so silently that it was almost as if she weren't there at all. His head hit the pillow and she shifted, her back against his side. He wrapped his arm around her and moved her closer, she still didn't wake up, he didn't want her to. He was content just as it was, nearly another perfect moment. He needed it, because when morning came he and the rest of the team were getting back to work, they had a lot to do if they were going to bring the arrow back from the dead.


	3. Chapter 3

A year was a long time to be gone for most people, for Oliver Queen, a man who had disappeared for nearly five, a year felt like a long vacation. If only it were that. In a year the city had reached a state of destruction that would take most cities ten to reach. Criminals were getting smarter, faster, more cocky. Each one had their own little story of how they had slain the vigilante, how they were the king of the crooks. Each story that was told was more bloody than the last and each truly believed them.

The stories of course reached local news sights which broadcasts them to every one in Starling. Oliver heard each one and really wasn't impressed at all. The night had finally come where he would expose to the city that the arrow wasn't dead.

Oliver left the basement of his club at six thirty with Dig. They left Felicity in the basement with Connor by her side so that she could monitor both her boys at once. They were waiting by the tunnel into the city. For six months starling had gotten mass amounts of unregistered guns piled into the back alleys of the former glades. The police confiscated over twelve dozen in four months and they were rounding up the peek found with them. The average citizen was in constant danger of being shot by a thousand guns that were now on the street. Oliver had been gone for a long time, there were a lot of people who needed to be brought to justice, and a lot of Guns that needed to be confiscated.

"Felicity just got a police report. A truck harboring a large amount of weapons are taking the back routes heading for the glades." Dig called him.

"That means they have to go through the tunnel first." Oliver answered. He stood in the middle of the tunnel's roads, his motor cycle parted to the side. In his arrow pouch were three explosive arrows that would render the truck immobile leaving only the criminals inside to take care of. He had a surge of adrenaline in him, it was a feeling he hadn't felt in a very long time.

* * *

_11 months ago._

_It had been two weeks since Oliver had set down his bow. Roy had stepped up to the plate, patrolling starling city from a distance. He was no Oliver, the best he could do was stop a rape or a street harassment for loose change. He couldn't so anything substantial like Ollie could. _

_After his visit from Shado, Oliver started to reminisce on the past loves in his life. Above all there was Laurel. She had been by his side since they were young kids. They had gotten together and broken up, gotten together and broken up again, it was never enough to be just with her, nor her with him. There was Sara; a one night fling that ended in pure disaster, for years he thought she was dead then when she did come back and they tried a relationship it ended with her leaving yet again. Shado, the most beautiful of them all; she was a warrior and a demon in the sack, but like Sara it ended with another tragedy. So many others as well and all left after a short time. No one besides Laurel had stuck around too long and even she couldn't stay forever. _

_Then, there was Felicity. What was she? A beautiful, smart, devoted young girl who through thick and thin, earthquake and murder stayed with him. She was loyal and she wanted the same things Ollie did it seemed. She always seemed shy around him, afraid to get too close because of a fear. A fear that if she got too close to him she'd fall, and he would inevitably pick her up or fall with her._

_He hadn't seen Felicity or Dig since he had told them about his retirement from the hood. Dig had given up trying to communicate with him after Oliver stop returning his calls two weeks prior. But felicity called him daily, he didn't answer her but he listened to her voice mails and it made him miss her even more. _

_"**Ollie. Please answer me. I don't know where or are or if you're dead or in trouble, but I just want to help you. I want to know if you're okay that's all. And I miss you. Please please please get back to me" **_

_**-Felicity**_

_All of her messages were similar, she wanted to know where he was, how he was and when he was coming home. It seemed to him that she could care less about his motives. He was very grateful for that._

_After his two weeks of avoiding his family, friends and home he took the first step to mending broken friendships. He had been staying in the back up arrow cave the entire time and when he went out he would put on a hoodie and mainly stay in the former glades area. For that time he was incredibly bored. He was avoiding going to the office, avoiding friends and his house. Mainly he was avoiding Diggle who would most definitely give him a ton of crap about abandoning everything for a third time. That was over, it was time to face the consequences of everything he did. He would confront his friends and Diggle later, he had a special trip first. _

_He knocked on the door of the apartment 12 a on the 2nd floor on 3rd street. After his time of contimlating and brooding, that apartment was the first place he wanted to go to. He wanted to see the girl inside and invite himself in like he always did. He waited only a second after knocking on the door and then the girl opened the door surprised and suspicious. Oliver ignored her look of suspicion and like he always did invited himself in. He was too happy to see her to let her mood detour him. _

_"Where have you been Oliver, everyone has been looking for you! Even Sara couldn't find you! What's going on? Not that I'm not happy to see you again, which I am, but everyone has been really worried!" She ranted._

_"You're rambling again Felicity." He said softly._

_"In this situation I think I have a right to ramble." She looked away shyly. _

_Oliver lifted her chin gently with his hand."you absolutely do." He leaned in slowly giving her time to move away, but she surprisingly did not. Their lips met, hers still wet from freshly applied lipstick, his dry from the constant dry weather. It was a long kiss, and it felt good. It was sudden, he didn't have a good reason for his action and pheasant thinking of the consequences. He just knew that above anyone else she had been there for him. And he wasn't going to let that slip away. _

* * *

Less than a minute had gone by and suddenly out of the misty night the armored truck appeared. Oliver waited in the middle of the street and attempted to learn their strategy. Would they steer away? Or would they take a chance and continue at normal speed and see if Oliver would be the one to move away? Fight or flight. It would determine their entire strategy in the inevitable battle.

Oliver waited. They got closer, he still waited. He saw the driver who was panicked. Within three second the driver steered away slightly to the left, he was a flight. That triggered Oliver, the hunt had begun.

Immediately after the driver began to steer away Oliver took out his exploding arrow and fired, only needing half a second to aim. The explosion reared the truck of course, it slowly continued to turn right and the head of it crashed into the side of the tunnel. Four of the men in the back stormed out two carrying hand rifles and the other two with ak47's. They aimed for the arrow but he had already taken his shot. The two arrows hit the two rifles knocking them out of the men's hands and damaging them. He did the same with the other two but there were more than 6 dozen,more in the back of the truck. Three out of the four ran back to the truck to get more leaving the fourth out in the open. He charged the arrow bare handed and was quickly hit in the knee nearly all the way through with an arrow.

The three came back out guns flaring. Oliver took cover behind one of the tunnel support beams. He waited for an opening and shot and arrow at another man which hit him in in the shoulder, then hit the same guy again in the upper thigh. With the remaining two continued to fire at Oliver while the driver sat unconscious in,his seat. Oliver listened, less shots were being fired, he looked to see only one still shooting while the other fled. But by that time the police had surrounded the tunnel from all exits.

"Surrender, put down your weapons and come over with your hands up." Oliver heard a familiar voice state. It was officer Lance.

The man with the gun turned away from Oliver and started shooting at the approaching police officers. Oliver took the opportunity and shot an arrow into the back of the man's shoulder and another at his lower leg. The remaining criminal looked back and froze in surrender. The cops including officer Lance froze along with him. The entire tunnel grew still, everyone staring in the direction of which the arrows had originated from. They wanted to see who they had come from, of it was really who they thought it was.

Eventually after a few minutes the hood stepped out from the support beam exposing himself to the police force. He specifically looked at officer Lance who for the last year almost had believed he was dead. Lance stepped out from the rest of the cops and stood face to face with the masked vigilante.

"Where have you been?" He asked holding back a smile.

"I believe we have had this conversation before. And I'm back now." Oliver answered using his voice masker. Lance nodded, he understood. The hood was back.

* * *

**Happy fourth! Thank you for reading so far. Comment please and give me suggestions and stuff, I'd love to hear what you want to happen. Blah blah grammar stuff... kindle sucks at spell check but I do my best. Thanks again. Have college tours soon so next update will be a while.**


	4. Chapter 4

_11 months ago_

_Everything suddenly started happening in a flash. Their kiss was longer than he ever thought it would be. She was enjoying it as much as he was and before he could think his hands found themselves rested on her hips. His hands started reaching back up bringing her shirt along with them._

_He tried to slow his heart beat as he watched her shirt hit the floor, every part of his brain told him to stop her before it was too late, but every other part of him said to let her keep going. Why make her stop? He wanted this, that was why he had come here. He didn't expect it to get this far so quickly but he wasn't complaining in the slightest. She was doing this because she wanted to, not because he was forcing her in fact he wanted to slow down just little bit. __Before he could say anything they found their way in the bedroom. He felt her skin on his chest for the first time and that was it. He couldn't stop._

* * *

Oliver and Felicity had celebrated the arrows return that night. Felicity was proud of his accomplishment and his decision to come back.

It was nearly day break but Felicity and Oliver were still awake. They couldn't bring themselves to go to sleep. There was too much to say. A lot had happened and there was a lot to happen. Most importantly the elections were coming up soon and Oliver was running for major. He was following his mother's beliefs in her own campaign and added vigilante support. It was a week away, but there were things that needed to be said then and there.

"I'm proud of you Oliver. Being the hood again, I know how against it you were." She said to Ollie resting her head on his chest. He didn't know how to respond so he answered with silence. "I know. But you are a hero to a lot of people. What you do, what you can do is heroic." She continued.

"Felicity." He said turning over in bed to look her directly in the eye. "At my core, I wasn't a hero. I was a hunter." ©

"Is that all you are to yourself? I see so much more." She told him. He couldn't help but smile. He felt that she was wrong, but he liked that that was how she saw him. He lifted her on top on top of him. She leaned down for a kiss which he enjoyed. "You've always been a hero to me Oliver. You saved me before and I have no doubt you could save me again from anything really."

Oliver was about to respond when his phone started ringing on his night stand. They both sighed. Felicity rolled off of him and started getting dressed while Oliver answered the phone. It was Dig. He had news that finally, after two years there was a sighting of Thea.

Oliver got up immediately. He hadn't seen or heard from Thea in those two years since she disappeared with only a note to Roy left behind, since the attack on the city by slade. No one had seen or heard from her. He now knew what she must have felt when he was thought to be dead for those five years. With a sighting in starling which was reported only hours ago it was the best chance he had to find her again. He dressed quickly and walked out the door leaving Felicity in a daze not knowing what happened. He turned suddenly. "I have to go. Now. Right now. Ill see you later okay?" He told her.

She was up and dressed. "Its alright I understand Oliver. I have to go feed Connor anyway." She told him smiling. He returned a smile to her, nodded and left shutting the bedroom door behind him. He walked down the hall thinking of Felicity still. He wondered how he got so lucky. She was so patient and understanding. He didn't deserve her.

He got to Verdant by skipping every red light in the city but made record time doing it. Diggle wasn't even in the club, he was waiting outside with the car ready to go.

"Where was she seen?" He asked not stopping.

"Airport. Old cop friend spotted her and delayed her plane. They can't delay it forever Oliver. So we have to hurry. Roy is going to meet us there."

"Roy? Dig. I have to be the one that talks to her first. She'd be more likely to talk to her brother than an ex boyfriend. If he tries to get to her first shoot him." Oliver told him. Diggle laughed at the inquiry but Oliver's face remained just as serious.

"Come on man you aren't serious." But still Oliver's face stayed the same and diggles changed to shocked. For a long time the car was silent, dig looking back from the rode and back to Oliver every few seconds to see if his expression would change.

"Fine, that may be a little... Drastic." Oliver finally said releasing a smile and a snort. "But she's my sister Dig. And I'd started to think she was gone forever. I, I can't loose her again." He shook his head.

"I guess now you know how she felt for all of those years."

The car ride there felt like an eternity to Oliver. His leg wouldn't stop shaking at the thought that they hadn't gotten there in time. The moment the car pulled up to the airport Oliver opened the door and rushed inside. The only problem was that he had no idea where to go, or how he would get through customs without a ticket or without having to go through The extremely slow, long security lines. Then again, he was Oliver Queen the arrow, a man who could get in and out of anything. Whether he used his money, charm, or physical strengths.

Diggle rushed after him giving the car keys to a security officer that was aware of the situation. He could tell Oliver was about to do something brilliant, or stupid, they were basically the same with him. "Oliver wait!" Dig yelled to him. "What are you thinking about, I know that look on your face."

"I'm thinking of a way to get through customs undetected, do you want to spend the rest of the day in airport jail?" He said quietly.

"Or let me flash my badge. Oliver, sometimes there are simple solutions to these kinds of things. Most of these security guys are aware of what's going on." Dig snorted at his incompetence. Oliver showed no emotions or embarrassment or any of the sort and allowed Diggle to do what he said.

Within ten minutes they were through customs and in the heart of the airport. As said Roy was waiting just inside. "How the hell did you get in?" Dig asked shocked that Roy had beat them inside.

Roy rolled his eyes. "I've been Oliver's apprentice for almost three years. You think I can't get myself through public security? Ha."

Dig shook his head at Roy. "Have you seen Thea at least?"

"No, non of these guards will talk to me." He told them frowning at one of the guards standing near by.

"Let me try." Dig said walking to the same guard. He flashed his ID. and they began talking. The guard pointed them in the direction her plane was and where other officers said they had eyes on her.

It was a near sprint to her location, each of them frantically moving their heads from one side to the other looking for her. She was said to be at terminal G but they looked in every one before it just to be sure. Dig was concentrating more on the actual terminal she was said to be at than the ones she probably wasn't at. The sprint ended when Dig pointed out the G on the sign with another security officer standing underneath it.

"Where is she? Where was the last place you saw her?" Dig asked while Roy and Ollie continued their frantic head bobbing. The guard gave him a strange look.

"She's right there. She's been there for a half hour." He told them wondering why they were so frantic.

Their heads turned in the direction. Sitting in an airport chair with music player in her ears was a gussied up Thea Queen. Her head was down, she didn't see them. Her hair had grown out a bit, her clothes were just as extravagant as always, she had a smile on her face. Oliver beamed at the sight of his sister, and she looked very well. All he wanted to do was talk to her, tell her he loved her. Roy's eyes were as round as quarter. He started walking towards her, Oliver looked at Diggle with a piercing stare and immediately Dig held Roy back. "He's Oliver's sister. He gets top priority. Don't you even think about talking to her before Oliver." Diggle said still holding him. His tone was incredibly serious and low but it didn't keep Roy from squirming.

Oliver was already walking toward her, his eyes fixed on her like prey just to be she wouldn't escape him at the last moment. Thea was listening to music and caught someone walking towards her out of the her eye. She looked up to see the face of the strange man, but was shocked to see who it was. Oliver. She had a look of pure shock on her face. She was surprised, and somewhat concerned.

"Oliver!" She shouted and stood up not knowing what to do.

Oliver was the same. He didn't know what to do, to hug her, to yell at her, to wait for her to say something first? But she already seemed surprised, like a scared rabbit in the forest. "Hello speedy." He couldn't hide his smile. Her expression didn't change, still it only showed shock. But slowly he saw her face soften and a tear eventually made its way out of her eye. Oliver knew then that it was okay to continue. He took her shoulders and slowly moved in. Her arms wrapped around his neck, his around her waist. She rested her head on his chest and allowed the tears to roll off her face. Oliver didn't want to let go, she was his baby sister, she would always be his baby sister, and he loved her more than any girlfriend he ever had, more than any friend. He didnt want to let her go, a tear of his own escaped as he closed his eyes.

He held her for a long time, but to Oliver as he finally let go, it wasn't nearly enough time. "Where have you been Thea? You haven't called, or texted, no one's heard from you. And so much has happened."

"That's a difficult question Ollie. I've been a lot of places. How- how did you find me?" She asked.

"Does that really matter? I thought I'd never see you again, sometimes. You've missed so much." He told her still holding onto her shoulders.

"Like what? That crap hole of a city is just as disgusting as it was two years ago. It hasn't changed except for the worst. What's worth knowing?" The old Thea began to emerge, her narrow mindedness and stubborn attitude and all.

Oliver stood there for a moment trying to understand her sudden temper. "Um, well. For one thing you're an aunt now. And since you're back I'd love for you to meet him." Thea was more surprised at that than anything else she had happen to her that day. But the shock went away and was replaced by sadness. She no longer looked Oliver in the eye, her face had a frown. "You're not staying, are you?" He said holding his head in aggravation and disappointment.

"Thea what the hell is wrong with you? Where do you keep going? Why did you leave like that?" Roy came stammering towards them enraged at what he had overheard.

"Roy?" Thea hadn't noticed him standing to the side.

"You abandoned us! Your brother, me, the bar, all your friends! And now you're just going to leave again you selfish bitch?"

"You think I just packed up and left without a plan, or considering what I was doing? It was the hardest decision I've ever made. And I'd love to say I have no regrets but..." She turned away, not wanting to give away what she had been doing. "Look, I can't stay. But..." Her heart twinged. "I could visit. Maybe for a day."

Inside Oliver's heart ached at her deceptions. But even if he could only get her for one day he'd take it. He'd kill for it even. He wanted her home. Even if for a moment

**chapter 4 cool. Hope everyone liked it. Please leave me suggestions for future chapters. I would love that. And as always thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

It was Oliver's hope that when Thea did finally return he would have a big feast. The chefs would cook all of her favorite dishes, all of her closest friends would come, he and Roy would be on either side of her, and they would celebrate her homecoming.

That wasn't how it happened. Instead or Thea staying for good, she was just staying for a day. Instead of her flock of friends welcoming her home, it was just him and dig and Roy, and a baby she had never met before. Instead of a feast, there was pasta in the parlour. And after twenty minutes Dig got a call and had to step out. It wasn't a very good welcome home party. Felicity was even out. Oliver felt ashamed of his efforts, thinking something more extravagant might persuade her to stay longer. However, as he watched her hold Connor in her arms, her smiling down on him, him smiling up at her, he couldn't help but think that he had done something right.

"He's cute Ollie. Can't imagine you as a father though." She told him looking back at his past. "So is his mother some two second girlfriend you knocked up or something?"

Oliver cringed. He didn't know whether to be insulted for Felicity and himself or amused. "Yeah?" He dragged it on, "But his mother and I have made it work. And we are very close. And together now."

"Wait, don't tell me. Alexis?" She asked thinking of a past female friend of Ollie's. He shook his head. "No no, no no no. Wait what's that mini skirt wearing puppy that always followed you. What's her name? Uhh, Felicity! It's her!" Oliver rolled his eyes but nodded his head. "Ha! Knew it! How did that happen?" She asked fully amused with herself.

"Let's talk about where you have been for a little while. Huh?" Oliver said crossing his arms. Thea lost her smile. "Come on Thea. Give me something, anything! I haven't heard anything from you in two years!" He was getting angry at her. She had disappeared, and unlike his, her family didn't start out believing she was dead. It was worse. There was no reason to believe she was dead nor alive, if she was being held captive if living in luxury."

"Ollie stay out of it!" She barked. Oliver was about to fight her back when Diggle rushed in from the pouring rain that creeper right outside the dark windows. He looked frantic, he was nearly pale. He looked to Oliver with terror and deep concern in his eyes.

"Dig, Dig. What's wrong? What happened?" Oliver asked, his hands on Digs shoulders. He tried to catch his breath, he had been all the way at the end of the Queen's incredibly long driveway when he received a very ominous, horrific call.

"Oliver. Slade. He escaped." The room grew silent. Even Thea was speechless. Slade had killed her mother years ago, had invaded her home and unleashed an army. She had just as much of a grudge as Diggle, but neither had as much fear as Ollie. He never thought he would be able to escape, but if he had, there was no doubt that he was coming back to Starling, to finish business.

* * *

_Oliver awoke with a screaming headache. He could hear life just out the window, the hustle and bustle of downtown Starling just yards away which didn't help matters much. He wasn't used to the sound, he was used to the sound of trees and birds that resided on his families property. He sat up quickly realizing that he wasn't at his house at all. _

_Lying next to him silently was Felicity still fast asleep. She was so quiet he couldn't hear her breathing. He knew she was only by the up and down movements of her chest inhaling and exhaling. _

_The night was a bit of a blur and his headache offered the reason why. He had shown up at Felicity's door after four too many shots of whisky. It was to work up the courage to leave his seclusion and see Felicity after two weeks of avoiding her. He had hoped to express his feeling to her and apparently gone a little too far. He put his feet on the floor and wiped off his face. Then slowly stood from the bed, he held his breath as he saw Felicity move. She did not wake. _

_With a sigh of relief Oliver put on his clothes and grabbed his helmet. He did not want to be there when she woke up. If he felt this bad she would have to feel much worse, and she had Been sober the previous night. Oliver was good at keeping his emotions under wraps but Felicity certainly wasn't. He felt guilt and regret, her emotions would be horrendous. _

_He never should have done what he had done. She was a good person, better than he was, he didn't deserve anyone with such high standards. And she was too important to him. What he had done would most likely ruin their friendship. He did love Felicity, now more than ever, if she was any one else he wouldn't feel so guilty._

_He put his helmet under his arm and left her apartment. He needed to give her her space, and wait till it was a good time to talk about what had just happen._

_Felicity awoke an hour later to an empty bed. To her the night before was perfectly clear, every touch, every emotion. She could remember it all. Oliver was gone, probably left in a hurry to be sure she didn't see him. She had smelled the whisky on him the night before so she knew the condition he had come in. He hasn't been himself and she knew that but she let everything happen and she was glad she did. Unlike Oliver she had no regrets. _

**I know this was a really short chapter but I wanted to post something. This idea was a pm that was sent to me and I liked it, hope you do too.**


	6. Chapter 6

_"Felicity.." Oliver called to her from behind. He had just come down the stairs into their layer under the club. Felicity had gotten there hours before, hoping she could get all of her work done before Oliver could get there. Obviously she hadn't come early enough. He stood in his leather jacket he wore whenever he rode his mother cycle. His face was humble to the point where it was nearly apologetic. _

_She turned around in her chair waiting for him to continue, but no words came from either of their mouths. What was there to say, After you had sex with someone you never ment to get close to? Oliver started looking around with his hands in his pocket, seemingly looking for an escape. Felicity bit her lip keeping herself from speaking but it wasn't enough._

_"Oliver!" She just blurted. It certainly got his attention. "I'm sorry it's just, you're looking at me like I just killed your cat and you're trying to forgive me for it. As if killing a cat is even close to what we did." She stopped to calm herself down. "It looks like you are angry with yourself for what we did but I have no regrets I promise." She stood from her chair and walked towards him until they were a foot apart. "I hope you don't regret it either." _

_Oliver looked into her Crystal blue eyes, sincere with what she was saying. He knew she wasn't lying for his benefit. And yet he couldn't look at her for more than a moment without darting away. If it were anyone else he surly wouldn't have regretted what he had done. But she was the only woman he felt comfortable with just being friends. He never had a female friend he hadn't slept with. And that relationship was very special to him, he had ruined it and she didn't realize it. But her eyes were set on him, as if he was the most wonderful person to her. How could she look at him like that, was all he kept thinking._

_"I don't know how I feel about it." He said. He didn't realize how many ways the statement could be interpreted until it left his mouth. She could be thinking he simply didn't like the experience. However it could be no farther from the truth. "I don't know, where to go from here. That's what I mean." _

_Felicity could sense his apprehension. She took another step closer and put her hand on his shoulder. Oliver nearly jumped at her touch. Her soft hand, warm at the touch, so gentle. She looked up at him. "We can do this at your pace. I understand." Felicity did understand. Oliver wasn't thinking straight that night. His emotions got the better of him, he did what he wanted to do, what he had restrained from doing when sober. She understood that it wouldn't have happened if he hadn't had a drink before that, but also knew he wanted it to happen either way. She understood, everything was happening fast for her too. _

* * *

The moment the words slid out of Digs mouth Oliver's heart nearly stopped as his thoughts immediately went to Felicity. If Slade was out of his prison he surly was headed for Starling. To finish his vendetta to kill everyone he cared for. Slade had gone after felicity before, hell, he captured her thinking she was Oliver's secret lover; which she was just acting as at the time. His connection to her was high then but he allowed her into that situation knowing he had a clear head. Now that she was family, that he realized he really did love her, he couldn't imagine her in such a position ever again.

If it did happen again chanced were that he wouldn't be prepared as he was last time. Not only that but he didn't know how he would be able to handle it emotionally. If he could handle it. And Connor, what if Slade got his hands on Connor? He couldn't let anything happen to his son. He was less than two weeks old. He was just starting to know his own son. He couldn't think of what would happen, because nothing was going to happen. He had to make sure he stayed safe. Oliver had been retaking the city so much that he hadn't been able to spend time with his own son.

Dig and Thea meanwhile were awaiting to see his reaction to the news. Oliver didn't turn to let them see. "I need to talk to Felicity. I need to see my son." His mind was in another place. "I'm sorry Thea." He said taking the baby from her, keeping his head down.

"It's okay Ollie." She said her arms releasing the infant. She was just as shocked. She thought the man who killed her mother and kidnapped herself was dead. All this time he was alive.

"Dig, call Felicity and tell her to come home now. Send her up to our room when she gets here." Dig nodded to him.

Less than an hour later, Felicity came through the door. As soon as Dig told her what was going on she rushed up the stairs to Oliver and Connor. Oliver was sitting on the bed playing with Connor, passing the time till she came home, and also becAuse he didn't spend enough time with him. She looked at him with the same eyes as she had when he came to meet her in the layer after their first time sleeping together. Such affection and understanding with a touch of concern. But her eyes still sparkled, this time he believed because she was close to tears.

"Oliver I-" she started but Oliver stopped her with a long, passionate, nearly sad kiss. He took her cheek in his hand and felt the tears slowly drip down onto his hand. Her lips barely moved they were so frozen with fear. They finally stopped. Felicitys face was full of fear, his was now drained of his emotions. He was finished being scared. If Slade was going to come he needed to be ready for him. He wasn't going to let him hurt his family. Ever. If he got within an acre of them he'd kill him so fast he wouldn't know what hit him. And he wanted it to be as painful as possible. Love does crazy things to the mind. He just wanted a moment with her. One perfect moment before his whole world would inevitably fall apart.

Days went by and nothing was heard about Slade, Deathstroke, or an Australian with an eye patch. Argus contacted Leila about the information at the beginning and had passed it along to her friends in the special forces, and of course, Dig. But neither Leila, nor Argus, nor Oliver had seen or heard anything since the initial report. That Slade had escaped from Lian Yu and that he had gotten off a ship in the United States. Felicity seemed to be in constant terror and Oliver never left the club basement, constantly monitoring reports. Always awake, always alert. Thea had tried several times to get him to come home, by calling to say that if he didn't come home she would leave. But he wouldn't leave and he knew she wouldn't either.

It wasn't until Felicity forced him to come home by refusing to bring Connor over. And that was the first night that Oliver slept in three days. Felicity curled up in his crevices. Her back against his stomach. His arm stretch across her body, linking with her hand. Somehow having her so close allowed him to relax.

He slept for a mere two hours until something from his dream woke him. He dreamt of the fight between him and Slade on the boat. Things falling, water filling the room, losing his balance, windows breaking. First a crash. Then a shatter, followed by a swift chilly breeze. At first he was a bit out of it, but as he noticed the breeze and realized that the windows had been shut when he went to bed; followed by the realization that the crash was not part of a dream. It took barely fifteen seconds for him to react.

Oliver shot up from his pillow looking straight at the window. At first glance the window seemed to still be closed, but when the lights went on he saw why he had heard a shatter. A rock, the size of shoe was laying just by the window surrounded by the glass. Felicity tucked her knees to her chest as Oliver got up to examine the rock. He looked closely at it, just a mere rock, nothing special or dangerous about it and he felt it was safe to touch it.

On the other side was an arrow. Black, handmade. And a feather, black and white, and very weathered. The arrowhead was covered in crusty, now nearly brown blood. Oliver recognized it and knew it well. The man made arrowhead, the black and white pheasant feather, it was from the island. The one he had driven through Slades eye which he had placed on a spike on the beach of Lian Yu. It was a warning.

He turned to Felicity, nearly petrified with fear. Oliver put his hand on her shoulder. The shoulder which housed her first and only visible scar from a bullet. He couldn't imagine how many more she would have if Slade got his hands on her.

**I was in San Diego for a week and left the day AFTER COMIC CON STARTED AND WASNT ABLE TO GO! So mad! Anyway, I hope you like that I brought back Slade because he is such a great character in the comic books and I want to expand him further. And I like the felicity Oliver relationship people have created for them. Let me know what you think so far. **


	7. Chapter 7

_Oliver thought that what he wanted to do was go slow, but after the talk he had with Felicity, there was nothing slow that happened between them. They could both feel it. There was a spark that set off whenever they were near each other, it had been unspoken of for two years, and after that time being ignored it had finally burst into flames. The heat only intensified when they were in bed together. They had chemistry, Oliver hadn't felt a connection so strong in a very long time. He could feel the intensity and he could tell Felicity did too. Neither of them let it slow them down. They didn't speak of it, because they felt it couldn't be explained through words. Only someone who had experienced something like it would be able to understand it. _

_Oliver had woken up once again before Felicity. Once again it was early morning, the light was just peeking in through the window. But this time he was at his house and he remembered what was going on quite clearly. Most importantly, he didn't want to run and leave her. He just wanted to lay there with her silently sleeping beside him. He just wanted to stay there. He looked at her face, nearly smiling in her sleep. He was glad she was dreaming of something good, something that made her smile. She deserved that. _

_Oliver still didn't believe that he deserved her but until something truly proved that, he wasn't going to spoil their fun. And felicity seemed happy, even I'm her sleep. He was happy too, he just hoped that fast for him, didn't mean too fast for her._

* * *

Oliver hadn't slept. He had tried, but whenever Felicity would rest her head by his chest, or sleep without a single sound, Oliver would worry. Thinking that she was going to die if he fell asleep or was already dead. He noticed her absolute silence the first time he had slept with her, and at that time he had found it cute and calming. Now, it scared the absolute hell out of him. He'd wake her every so often in the middle of the night just to be sure she wasn't dead, as if Slade had given her some sort of poison in her food and she'd die in her sleep. It had happened for three nights.

It was the fourth night since the stone had been hurled into the room. Since then the window had been fixed. But Oliver found himself staring at it every night anyway. Oliver and Felicity had just gotten into bed. Oliver wrapped his arms around felicity, she leaning in towards him, while he was staring up at the ceiling totally laid out flat if it wasn't for his right arm that cradled the top of Felictys body.

Felicity found it slightly uncomfortable, laying her head on Oliver's forearm, but she felt secure in it, being able to lay on the muscles that protected her so well. For him it was the same, it wasn't most comfortable thing, having her head on his arm, but being able to wrap it around her made him feel close to her to the point where even if he did fall asleep he could rest assured that she was close.

Felicity fell asleep rather quickly that night because of how close they were. Oliver needed only to move his head slightly to the left to look at the window. He spent most of the night staring at it and the door. He listened to the clock in the hall his mother was so proud of. On most nights he couldn't hear it. He wasn't paying attention to it. But on nights like this he could hear everything. A Crackle on the floor as people moved about two floors down, the sound of a leaf hitting the window, the occasional clicking noise his fan made. But not Felicity.

Oliver quickly shook her awake, terrified that Slade had poisoned her and she didn't move. He pulled out his hand from under her and started shaking her more rapidly. She sprung awake screaming thinking something terrible was happening to her. When she turned to Oliver her face filled with anger as his flushed with relief.

"Again Oliver? You can't keep doing this. Yes I sleep like I'm dead but that doesn't mean that in actually dead! It's always the same and you're the only one at blame. Argh! I just rhymed." Felicity angrily spoke.

Oliver laughed a little at his own fault but he was still in his mind set of protection. "I know, I know. I'm sorry, im just worried something might happen to you." He put his hand on her covered knee letting her know he understood. She smiled back at him and gave him a small kiss, but he returned it with an even longer one holding her face as she laughed through it.

"Okay okay stop. Let me go to sleep. I'm too tired for this." She told him knowing where it would lead if they continued.

They both laid back down and with in a half hour Felicity was asleep. Oliver however, was stuck staring at the fan and listening to that old clock, deciding to make a game out of it. Every two clicks he'd blink. There was nothing else to do.

Tick, tick, blink.

Tick, tick, blink.

Tick, tick, blink.

Tick, "Hey kid." Blink.

Oliver shot up looking straight at the door way, a figure was in it. He tried to turn on the lights. But try after try brought no more brightness. He stood and walked over to the figure. He knew who it was of course. "Hey kid, miss me?" Slade said nodding up. And then he propelled himself at him grabbing Oliver's neck and choking him. Oliver felt helpless, feeling Slades hands squeezing his neck, sucking the air from his lungs. Oliver jabbed his face and felt the grip loosen. He did it again and again and again until he let go. He caught his breath quickly and lashed back at Slade doing exactly what he had done to him, choke him. And then he heard the scream.

Oliver's eyes widened in fear as he found himself in bed, one arm clasped onto Felicity's neck and her screaming and clawing at him. He swiped his hand away, it only being there for less than ten seconds actually, but of course it scared the crap out of Felicity, who had woken to a sleeping Oliver trying to kill her. Oliver turned on the lights and Felicity scurried to the the edge of the bed traumatized. Her husband had just choked her.

"Felicity! I am so sorry. I'm so sorry! I- I must have been dreaming, I was dreaming about- God I'm so sorry. I fell asleep.." Oliver was nearly in tears. He was still in the bed as was she, his arm extended out towards her as he apologized again and again. He had just choked his wife, granted he was asleep, dreaming of Slade in his house, but he was beside himself in guilt. Felicity was clasping her neck, trying to catch her breath and she was also nearly in tears herself. But she looked to Oliver, she didn't understand, but she did know he had been asleep. He was terrified for their lives.

"Oh Oliver, I know. I know." She crawled over to him with caution. He had just strangled her. But he was asleep, she had to keep telling herself that. She embraced him, putting her hand over his head stroking his short hair. He buried his head into her shirt, taking in her scent, and thought about how lucky he was to have her. But then he saw his hands wrapping around her body and tore himself off of her stumbling half way out the door.

"No, I'm dangerous. I can't be around you right now." He said and ran out the door. Felicity put on her robe and hurried after him. She caught up with him in the parlour where she saw him frozen stiff. She walked in with a quizzical expression on her face... Until she saw what he was staring at and let out a high pitched gasp.

"Shhh, you don't want to wake your baby, do you?" The sight sunk in. Felicity and Oliver were staring at Slade Wilson on their couch, holding their sleeping baby. And that voice, the way it echoed through their house with its eeriness proved to both of them, that this was no dream.

* * *

_It was Saturday morning. Oliver hadn't seen Felicity in a week because of back to back to back meetings at the company that occurred daily. He hadn't had time to visit the club or even his office. It being the first day in a week since he had seen her he was excited. He arrived at the club and hour earlier than usual to be sure. _

_When he arrived Diggle greeted him and he realized it was the first time he had seen him in a while too. But honestly he wasn't looking for Dig. His head spun to each side of the basement but Felicity wasn't there. Had he come too early? _

_"Dig where's Felicity? Has she been here yet?" _

_John rolled his eyes. "Just missed her man. I sent her home." _

_Oliver found that peculiar. "Why, what was wrong?" _

_"Trust me Oliver, she was sick. Caught her throwing up in the bathroom twice before I told her to get lost." It took Oliver a few seconds for a thought to pop into his head. She was sick, could it be because...?_

_ "I have to go. Right now. Ill be back, sorry I have to go." He ran up the stairs and headed for Felicity's as fast as he could. _

_It took Dig a while to understand what had just happened. Eventually he just stared laughing to himself. "Oliver got her pregnant. Ha, oh man, that boys in trouble." _

**I hope you liked this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it. (Even if it was only one day) leave comments please. Follow and favorite if you want, I'd appreciate it, but hey, it'd your life. And just to be clear the first time Slade appeared in the chapter, it was a dream, the second time with Connor, it was not a dream! Thank you for reading! **


	8. Chapter 8: The Discovery

**Yay, chapter... something! It was raining when I started writing this just fyi. I've been working on another arrow story, you should check that out (advertising!). Hope you like this chapter, it was really fun writing. **

_Oliver liked the rain. He liked the smell of it and the sound. He liked the sound of thunder rumble by and waking to a big bang. He slept the best when it was raining. He liked the heavy rain, when you can smell it from your room coming from the open window. _

_It was raining that day. He could smell it from Felicity's open window. He spent quite lot of time listening to the rain in those few crucial minutes. Thinking about how much he liked the rain and why. He didn't know if felicity liked the rain, he hoped. He hoped she did, because it turned out they were going to be together for a long time._

_She was pregnant. _

_They sat on the couch in her den the sat near her open window. The rain was hard enough to see, it trickled on the pavement below covering it completely with a glossy wet texture. Rain was such an interesting thing. It's literally fresh, cold water that falls from the sky! It's ridiculous! Then he realized he was spending far too much time thinking about the concept and more on the problem. No, not the 'Felicity being pregnant' problem. He was concerned about the 'what if she doesn't like rain' problem. That was his concern for some reason. It was the shock._

_Felicity saw his silence as a warning. She thought he was going to throw something or get angry and leave. She was just as concerned and scared as he was. But she was looking at him and all he could focus on was the stupid rain. She knew he wasn't going to start the conversation, which meant she was going to have to. But her hands were shaking. And she could tell that her throat was quivering. She could barely keep back the tears but didn't know why she was almost crying. She didn't hate the baby, she didn't hate herself. She was just, shocked. _

_"I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep it." She said. Terrified of his answer. Oliver took a deep breath and finally turned. _

_"And it's completely your decision. I have no place to object. But, I'm glad." __Felicity was relieved. Relieved he was glad, which meant he wasn't going to abandon them, not that she thought he would. And glad that he respected her._

_"I'm just not sure what we do now." She said turning to the rain. _

_"We're on even ground on that one, felicity. I can't imagine being a father. But I'd like to be one. " He said joining on the stare at the rain. You couldn't hear a bird or cricket over the rain. It was serine, relaxing. "Do you like the rain, Felicity?" He asked not turning his head or breaking his gaze. _

_She breathed out a little laugh. "Love it. She said quietly. Still their gaze didn't break from the rain. But Oliver cracked a smile, relieved and reached for her hand. He gave it a firm squeeze. _

_"Good. Me too."_

* * *

Oliver tasted blood. He starred into the face of that monster, holding his baby son calmly. But he knew that in a pinch Slade could kill Connor. He didn't know where the blood was coming from, why he tasted it, until he realized he'd been biting his lip so hard that it bled into his mouth. He put his fingers to it just to be sure.

Dark, red blood.

"Awe, did Oliver hurt himself?" Slade asked talking down to Connor. The baby didn't flinch, fast asleep in the arms of Oliver's rival. Then he looked up with the most generic, evil smile he could find. "Well I'm going to do a lot more to your dad if he doesn't cooperate.

Oliver spit out the blood in his mouth on the pure white, thousand dollar carpet. He didn't give a damn about that right now. Felicity had grabbed his arm and clenched it tightly, as if, if she didn't she would collapse.

"So that little ploy you had to cure me of the miricuru wasn't all a lie. How sweet. The fake lover becomes a real one after a one night fling brings them together forever? Am I close?" He asked amusingly. Oliver didn't flinch, didn't move, didn't make a sound. Slade laughed and stood from the couch. Oliver could now get a good look at the man that had been away for two years. Underneath his Gucci suit Oliver could see that he was a weathered version of the man he had known for all those years.

"You look terrible." Oliver managed to say. It caught Slades attention. He wasn't amused and Oliver immediately realized it as Slade swirled his finger around Connors head. Oliver's back arched up as if suddenly paralyzed, his jaw shut not daring to say another word.

"Well there isn't a lot of good places to work out in that _box _you put me in. Plus there was no such thing as square meals in there." He slowly stepped closer to the Queens. Felicity released her hand from Oliver's as Slade got straight up in her face. Nose to nose, she could smell his icy breath. "All I have to say is, that if you want to keep your baby alive, both of you are going to have to make some sacrifices. Do you want a dead baby?" Felicity snarled, she couldn't hold it back, she was too disgusted. And when she felt his hands touching hers she remembered when he had been holding her captive, waiting for the arrow to rescue her. What was he going to do, slash her face? Cut her fingers or stab her arms? She waited with eyes closed. Her arm grew heavier suddenly and she waited for it to just be over with. But when it moved her eyes beamed open to find them looking down at Connor in her right arm. Slade still was in her face though. Slowly it moved to the left side of her face to her ear. "I'm not a complete monster felicity. I have a son too." She breathed a sigh of relief but it was short lived when he placed a kiss on her temple.

Oliver was enraged. He couldn't help it. His right arm grasped Slade on his shoulder, his blood pounding. He turned grabbing his arm, his whole body turned to Oliver as he prepared to bend Oliver's arm backward. Oliver flinched but Slade hesitated. Oliver didn't dare move. Slade let out a laugh. "Hahaha, your girl has a spark in her Oliver." He told him feeling a cold tiny blade against the back of his neck. Felicity had taken out a blade and placed it against the back of Slades neck. "I see the appeal of her kid. She's a little fighter. The key word being little." Suddenly felicity saw Slade move his free hand against her side holding what she felt was a serrated blade against her skin.

An arm about to be broke, a blade against the neck and another against a hip. Oliver felt like the helpless one. But amazed and proud of Felicity. She was smart, cunning, and brave. She had brought a knife downstairs. He had nothing.

"Ill tell you what, Felicity; I'll put down my knife first, then you yours." Felicity felt like she didn't really have a choice. Slade still had Oliver. And she had no spare hand. She wasn't going to drop Connor. She nodded not daring move another part of her body. The blade moved away but she waited till he put it away in his pocket. Then she dropped her hand. And Slade loosened Oliver And stepped away.

"What do you want?" Oliver demanded. He looked to Felicity and Connor, and she gave him a reassuring look. He was relieved, and that was an understatement.

"What do I want? Ha. I want you dead Oliver. But for now I'd settle for, an eye." Oliver didn't understand. What this some sort of joke? And he put his hand to his eye. "Not now kid. Ill be back for it, and your life. This, was just a warning visit. To catch up on old times. Ill see you soon." Oliver watched him head for the main entry way. He wouldn't move until he heard the door shut. They both waited but he was moving slowly. He was walking out into the main entry hall when Oliver finally turned away,to look at Felicity. She was beaming in relief.

Then a noise shot into his ear, the sound of a fast moving object. It lasted only a second. That's when Felicity shrieked dropping to her knees. He heard the door shut right after the sound of fast moving footsteps. He turned to his wife who had set Connor down on the floor who was now wailing too.

"What? What?" He yelled. Felicity was holding on to her thigh and screaming. He keeled down beside her grasping her hands but they wouldn't budge. He forced them off and blood gushed out on the carpet covering the blood stain he had previously dropped. He moved his hands over the wound which he now realized was caused by Slade. His dagger had been thrown across the room into felicitys side. And still it was in her leg. He needed to take it out, but he needed to chase after him, but he had to comfort his son.

**Has it been a while since the last chapter? I forget. I hope you like this chapter I was trying to write more for my other story but nothing was coming so I wrote this in... two hours. Please leave me comments on what you thought about the chapter. Give me suggestions too, I'd love some of those! And as always follow and favorite if you want. Thank you for reading so far! **


	9. Chapter 9

Oliver couldn't beileve his ignorance. He should have sent felicity on a plane to some far off country the moment he heard of Slade's escape. He didn't though, and because of it his sons life was put in jeopardy. His own son! He couldn't protect his own son. And felicity, he brought her into this and now she was suffering for it.

Slade's dagger had cut through her skin as deep as it could go, but she was no worse for ware. She was shaken, in pain, and very much afraid, but that wasn't going to stop her. She was just as much a part of the family as Oliver was. She wasn't going to let his burden be his own.

After a day in the hospital and some very thick stitches Felicity was given the go ahead to return home. She was pleased but Oliver wasn't. The hospital was safer than the house. He couldn't have Connor or her there where Slade could find them, if he hurt one of them again he wouldn't be able to contain himself. And he didn't know if he could win. His emotions were drained. He couldn't feel anything except pain and remorse. All he wanted to do was get them out of there, send them to some remote country like the UAE or Vanuatu. Somewhere Slade wouldn't be able to track them down. Keep them there until it was safe.

That was what he had to do. It would be simple, he could even use his own private plane and a trusted body guard, besides Diggle. It would be perfect, he could signal them when it was okay to come home after the crisis ended and then they could be a normal family again.

As normal as they could get that is.

The moment they got home Oliver confronted her about it. They sat down on the couch in front of the tv. Felicity was able to walk herself there but with a massive limp. She sat down and Oliver sat with her. She knew something was coming, a feeling in the air or a look on his face made it very clear he wanted something.

"What?" She asked shyly, afraid to hear the answer. Oliver's eyes dipped down. He held her hand softy trying to find the words. "No." She suddenly gasped.

"What?" He jolted his head up quickly. He hadn't Said anything yet.

"No, I'm not leaving you. I don't know what I'd do without you. Please don't make me go. You need me and I need you." She shook,her head profusely.

But Oliver wasn't going to take no for an answer. "You're going Felicity. I don't care if I have to sedate you. You are taking Connor and you are getting out of here. I need you safe, and you aren't safe here!" He said sternly yet sad.

He was going to win this argument and they both knew it, but neither would acknowledge what side they were on. The last thing Oliver wanted was for her and Connor to leave. His son was so young. He didn't want to burden felicity with the job of mother and father for an uncertain amount of time or abandon Connor. They needed him and he needed them. But at the cost of their own lives? Never. He wasn't going to risk it.

Felicity understood. She wanted Connor safe too, and she didn't mind the idea of her being safe too, but she would have to leave Oliver. They still didn't know each other as well as they needed to. But she did know she loved him for some reason. She just didn't want to go.

She put her other hand on top of his stroking in solemnly, and lifted up her head. Her forehead rested on his, their lips so close to touching but wouldn't. Oliver could hear her breath that was so heavy, feel her moistened cheeks. It would be easy to put his tongue in her mouth, give her a reason to breathe so heavily, but he didn't have the heart.

He put his hands on either side of her and cupped her face, still so close from her lips that she wouldn't give up. "Please, please let me stay." She begged, more tears running down her face as she closed her eyes to listen to his breaths.

"I don't want you to go. You have to. You can't get hurt again. And I make you hurt."

"Maybe I like the pain." She answered quickly. It sounded less, strange, in her head. Oliver didn't notice. He didn't respond even. They just sat there. Her face in his hands, their foreheads leaning against each other, pain pouring out of them, lips just centimeters apart. "Okay. I'll go."

Oliver felt relief. But it didn't make it any less painful to know that she would be leaving. Finally their lips touched for a quick and joyless kiss and Felicity stood up and limping, went up the stairs.

* * *

_Oliver didn't know the first thing about a committed relationship. He definitely wanted this one to be long lasting though. Felicity was smart, joyful, beautiful, and fascinating. He was beginning to realize how much there was to love about her. Among other things she was strong and adaptive._

_Granted, in two weeks she decided she hated being pregnant. Since she found two weeks before she had contracted morning sickness in full force. For her, the sickness turned into afternoon sickness, and evening sickness. _

_"I don't think I'll ever be as to eat a piece of pizza again! I try but the rest of me says no you can't have this! It's ridiculous!" Felicity slumped onto her couch infuriated that the only things that seemed to stay down were apples. Oliver laughed to himself as he unpacked an overnight suit case. "It's not funny." She barked trying to be serious but Oliver couldn't help but laugh harder. It was at the most, cute, when she tried to be angry. _

_"I can't. You ramble about this till your face turns blue, or in your case, green." He joked. Felicity was barely amused. "You just seem to hate everything right now. Don't you." His tone was light as if he were still laughing. He dipped himself into the couch beside her to antagonize her more. "This is the worst of it." _

_Felicity grunted. "You keep telling yourself that."_

_"No, you keep telling yourself that." He laughed and eventually she did too. "You are going to be fine. In a few months we'll be the deadliest family in Starling. Our baby will have a dad that will kill anyone who even looks at him strange." _

_Felicity laughed at this only because it was probably so true. If anyone ever touched their baby he would surly and easily kill them._

* * *

The next day Oliver and Felicity went to the tar mat. His jet was waiting with Felicity's bags packed ready to fly to Sydney Australia. A long flight and an even longer distance. To know that she was going to be so far away was already killing him inside. Felicity was hurting too. She hadn't seen Oliver smile in days, she hadn't even seen herself smile. Because there was nothing to smile about. This was going to be one of the worst moments of her life.

The steps unfolded to the jet and the stewardess signalled to them that they were leaving soon. Oliver kissed Connor on his tiny head and set his basket on the tar mat next to Felicity's ankles. "Could you have picked some where more far away?" They had been standing an arms distance apart since they arrived, waiting for the time to come to finally say goodbye. It was Felicity who moved first, collapsing into Oliver's arms. He held her so tight that he could barely breathe. "Please don't die." She Squealed. She couldn't get anything else out. Oliver took a deep breath.

"Okay." He let her go only to bring her in one more time for a kiss. It wasn't like their last one, it was sad, but you could feel the emotion as their lips pressed into each other's. "Be safe."

Felicity picked up Connors bucket and made her way up the stairs into the jet. Oliver couldn't see her after that even through the Windows. He knew it was going to be a long time till he saw either of them again.

**I don't have a schedule for posting these chapters. So please do not expect any repetition. Thank you for your patients on this chapter though. I finally got an idea for it a few days ago. It's kinda short but I'm in school, gotta get stuff done! Thank you all 16,000 of you who have read this so far! Comment what you thought, favorite and follow if you want. Thank you!**


	10. Chapter 10

Oliver took another sip of whisky straight from the bottle until it was empty. It had a reflective property so he could almost see his face in it. He caught a tiny glimpse of his eye and smashed the glass bottle on the ground. The bottle of course shattered into a thousand pieces. Along with two others he had smashed. He didn't care. He turned to the table that had another full bottle on it, as well as a picture of Felicity. Her beautiful eyes, her perfect smile. It was as if he could hear her bubbly laugh.

"Shut up. I can't look at you right now." Oliver mumbled and flipped over the picture frame so he couldn't see her again. He took another swig of whisky. He didn't usually drink, especially so heavily. Not since he returned to from the island. He found it made him lose focus. But what was the point today? He had dubbed the day his day to let Ollie out, the old one that drank and bitched and swore. That was the Oliver he became when he drank. Felicity never saw him like this, that's why he flipped over the picture. It had only been a few days since felicity and Connor left and already he felt as though he was falling apart.

He took another swig. And something caught his eye. Another picture in a frame, next to the one he had flipped over. It was another one of Felicity. He was in it too. They were in the back yard laughing. It was her favorite picture of them.

"I can't look at you! Leave me alone." He slurred. Then looked at the image of himself. "I can't look at you either." He said to the picture of himself. He took another swig and flipped that picture over too. "I don't wanna look at myself."

Oliver didn't know when he had drifted off but he did know he hadn't gotten up from the couch in his bedroom to his bed. Or cleaned up the glass pieces. The mid morning light came through his white curtains onto his face. He moaned as it woke him up from his alcohol induced slumber. He felt a minor headache which was surprising for the amount of whisky he had had last night. Oliver sat up and removed his good shirt he had fallen asleep with and threw it in a dirty laundry pile.

He got up and grabbed a clean dark green shirt from the drawer. There was so much more space now that felicity was gone. He went into the bathroom to nurse his slight hangover, took two pills and washed off his face with cool water. The nice, refreshing feeling brought him back to reality, he knew that he couldn't do what he did the night before again, not a fourth time. It had happened every night since felicity left. Five days, it felt like a lifetime. He took the towel and dried off his face catching himself staring at his reflection in the mirror. "I can't look at you." He said to himself yet again and turned away. He was displeased with himself to say the least. He had stopped being the arrow for a year, allowed Slade to escape, sent Felicity and Connor away, and now was doing nothing to fix any of it! He was just drinking whisky or tequila and nursing his ego, and he knew it.

Felicity was going to be gone a lot longer than five days. He didn't want to think of how long it would probably be, Slade was ruthless, strong and swift. He knew exactly what he was doing at every moment most likely.

He didn't care. He wasn't doing anything, just thinking, walking around the now empty halls in his silent house. He didn't realize how empty it was until he spent the whole day in silence. Day turned into night so quickly. And when the sun finally slipped away he couldn't keep his promise to himself, the bottle of whisky was too close to ignore. He starred at it for a long time trying to convince himself that he didn't want it. But that was a lie, because he did want it. Just as he was about to grab the bottle there was a knock at the door. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end. He wouldn't put it past Slade to simply knock on the door, to make it part of a game of his. So Oliver slowly and calmly got up from his seat in the living room and walked, slowly, into the entry hall. He made his way to the door and put his eye on the hole. He felt ready for Slade, he wanted him to be there, wanted to hurt him and make him pay for his misery.

His eye was put on the hole, his fists were clenched prepared for anything. Through the hole he saw Diggle, and he sighed. Oliver took a deep breath to calm himself and opened his door. Diggle walked in without a single word.

"Dig I'm fine. Are you here to give me a lecture? Because -" Oliver was cut off.

"I'm not here to give you another lecture man." He said putting his hand up. "I'm here to drink with you." He said. Oliver relaxed his shoulders but was unsure of Diggles intentions. "And listen. Maybe after that you will be ready to look for Slade. Trust me, I don't like the idea of that guy out there either."

"Dig no." Over told him, even surprising himself. He was all for drinking by himself, but dragging Dig into the pit with him he couldn't do. Diggle smiled and patted him on the back.

"Good. Than what do you say we go back to the lair. And get some stuff done?" He asked, and Oliver gladly nodded.

* * *

_It was evening. Felicity was curled up in the bed half asleep while Oliver lay on his back thinking of the time ahead. He couldn't believe that in only seven or so,months he would have a son or daughter. That excited him but terrified him at the same time. But now that the hood was dead it seemed that no one would be after him or his child. Enemies of the hood would probably hunt down anyone related to him if they could ever find someone. _

_Now that the hood was dead no one ever knocked at his door, or tried to hurt him. He had a massively likelier chance of making it to forty since he wasn't getting bullets shot at him anymore. He didn't want to answer any questions, he didn't want questions asked but it was impossible to keep Diggle and Felicity from asking questions, especially felicity. _

_He could see it in her eyes, she was holding back an unmistakable urge to ask a thousand questions and she couldn't contain it forever. He knew this, he wanted to spend every good second with her in any way he could. _

_He turned over and kissed Felicity on her neck and cupped her hand in his. She shuffled under the covers as she emerged from her daze. "Why are you in a good mood?" She asked, her eyes still closed._

_"I don't know. I'm just happy being here with you." He responded. _

_"I think you'd be happier if you put on the hood again." She mumbled. Oliver heard it clearly though. Her eyes popped open as she reacted to her own sentence and sat up. Oliver was giving her a piercing gaze of disdain. _

_"No." He said immediately shooting her down._

_"I didn't mean to say that." _

_"But you did mean it." He scolded. She bit her lip. "Why would I want to? I have our baby and you to think about, I want to be able to protect and take care of both of you." _

_"The city needs you to do that too." She said softly. _

_Before either could say another word Oliver got up, grabbed his shirt and walked out. Oliver made his was to Felicitys roof. It overlooked a great view of the city, both the good side and the bad. On one side was sparkling lights and high rises building, on the other were tenements and trash. He could see slowly the two halves seemingly merge into one. He would love to bring order to the city again. But it wasn't only Shado's warning anymore, it was Felicity. _

**It's taken me forever to finish this chapter I'm so sorry. I have no schedule for my story updates so don't hold your breath. School work comes first for me and with AP history, I have a limited amount of time for free writing. Follow and favorite if you want and please comment because I love seeing what you think. Thank you for being patient. **


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